BPD: Shooter might have been protecting family during home invasion

This is a discussion on BPD: Shooter might have been protecting family during home invasion within the Carry & Defensive Scenarios forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Two teens shot in Beaumont
By THE ENTERPRISE
January 20, 2010
Posted: January 20, 2010, 7:03 AM CST
Two teens were shot late Tuesday, but ...

BPD: Shooter might have been protecting family during home invasion

Two teens shot in Beaumont
By THE ENTERPRISE
January 20, 2010
Posted: January 20, 2010, 7:03 AM CST

Two teens were shot late Tuesday, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, reports the Beaumont Police Department.

At about 11:49 p.m., officers responded to a report of gunshots in the 4200 block of Ector, said a news release from the BPD. Once there, officers found a 17-year-old male and a 19-year-old male, that had both been shot. One was injured in the upper chest, and the other in the hand. Both were taken to Christus St. Elizabeth hospital.

Officers said the shooter was taken in for questioning. It is believed that the shooter was a homeowner protecting his home against a home invasion, the release said.

The incident remains under investigation.

BPD: Shooter might have been protecting family during home invasion

Beaumont police say it appears a man who shot two teenagers might have been protecting his family during a home invasion robbery.

Officers responded to a report of shots fired at about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday in the 42 hundred block of Ector. Dispatchers heard shots fired during some of the calls they received. They discovered two men, 17 and 19, had been shot. One was hit in the upper chest and the other in the hand. They were taken by ambulance to Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The man who fired the shots was taken to the police station for questioning. Investigators believe he was protecting his home and family during a home invasion robbery.

The investigation is continuing and police have not made an arrest.
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This occurred in the 'southend' of Beaumont which is considered by many to be in the 'bad' part of town where gangs roam.

Texas Castle Act works and should be the pattern for the rest of the nation.

I would rather have the laws we have in Florida, except for the protection of property you have in Texas. The homeowner in most cases wouldn't even be brought in for questioning. It would of been cleared up at the home, or asked to make a statement in the next day or 2.

Qeustion:
Does Texas give the homeowner immunity from suit by the perps?
I'm not in a research kinda mood right now.

I would rather have the laws we have in Florida, except for the protection of property you have in Texas. The homeowner in most cases wouldn't even be brought in for questioning. It would of been cleared up at the home, or asked to make a statement in the next day or 2.

Qeustion:
Does Texas give the homeowner immunity from suit by the perps?
I'm not in a research kinda mood right now.

The shots were fired in the 4200 block of Ector. Doesn't say anything about being in the house or on the property other than a vague "might have been protecting his family during a home invasion robbery." Without more details, I'm not surprised he was taken in for questioning. He was not arrested so I guess he filled in some details that were not reported.

Update

Beaumont police do not expect to press charges against a homeowner who shot two teenagers apparently trying to invade his home late Tuesday.

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Officer Crystal Holmes, a department spokeswoman, said police still were taking statements from witnesses, but unless something drastic emerged in the continuing investigation, it appeared the man was justified in firing at the teenagers, who did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

According to police, they responded to a report of gunfire about 11: 49p. m. Tuesday at a home on the 4200 block of Ector.

Once there, officers found a 17-year-old man who had been shot in the chest and a 19-year-old man who had been shot in the hand.

Both teenagers were armed, Holmes said.

Both were taken to Christus St. Elizabeth hospital.

Officers said the homeowner was taken in for questioning. Theman said he still was shaken up and declined to talk Wednesday to Beaumont Enterprise reporters at his home.

Geoffrey Corn, a professor of criminal law at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, said a recent change in Texas law gives citizens a lot of leeway in using deadly force to defend themselves.

Under new provisions to the Texas Penal Code enacted in 2007, people are not required to retreat from what they perceive as an imminent threat in their homes before using deadly force, Corn said.

This is known as the “Castle Doctrine,” which originated in English common law, Corn said.

Previously, Texas had a less-stringent version of the “Castle Doctrine,” which required people to retreat from danger as much as possible before using deadly force, Corn said.